After our ferry and bus journey we were pretty exhausted. Luckily after a quick drink in a café and refilling our cash from an ATM, (the ONLY ATM we could find for days!) we quickly found a pretty cheap ($30 USD per night) double room in a hostel. The hostel, “Rio Baker” was not great at all – the WiFi worked only sporadically, and only when there was no one else but us in the hostel, the kitchen was filled with dirty dishes and pretty uncomfortable, (the owners sat in it all day long and stared at anyone who entered the entire time they were in there) and the owners kept all the lights and the hot water boiler off all the time. If you forgot to ask them to turn on the hot water, you ended up with an ice cold shower. (This happened to me once while there and it wasn’t pleasant!)
The next morning Colin surprised me by bringing home flowers along with the groceries! We enjoyed some empanadas from the store (didn’t want to go in that kitchen!) and relaxed that day, getting a bit of admin work done. That afternoon we checked out a cultural center that didn’t have much for us (just a few paintings and some movies in only Spanish) while trying to find a nearby museum. We decided we would leave the museum for another day and focus on our next journey – heading out to see a glacier which is part of the Northern Ice Cap, Glacier San Rafael.
On January 13th we had quite a hassle trying to get to the Laguna – the minibus we wanted to take was completely full. Eventually (with a lot of clever maneuvering and arranging by Colin) we managed to get ourselves on a bus which took us past the nearby mountains of Cerro Castillo National Reserve. Looking up at them we were in awe of their shape and size – we had decided to skip doing a hike in the area a few days before, which was lucky because we later learned an Israeli girl had died on the mountain around the time we were going to be there after breaking her leg and suffering from hypothermia. She had not brought the correct gear and had gotten caught out in a storm. Learning about this was a reminder for us to always be prepared when hiking in this region. We rounded General Carrera Lake in a few hours and soon settled into our hostel.
On January 14th Colin and I were on our way to Laguna San Rafael. We had read that the road to get to the Laguna was finished, but this wasn’t actually the case. After a long drive to the end of the Bahia Exploradores road (which allowed us to see hanging glaciers and ‘fingers’ of the Northern Ice Field as the road curved along the Ice Fields’ edge) we took a little boat across a river in order to meet a car on the other side to drive the rest of the way to our main boat for the day.
We piled into the boat and started down the river, maneuvering through some of the many fjords of Chile. It was interesting because Colin and I both had expected the islands and fjords to be covered in ice, but they were filled with humid and lush green rainforest instead. It was quite a surprise, considering how close we were to the ice fields and how strong the wind coming off of the ice fields was at times. During the boat trip I managed to spot some black river dolphins but we flew by them too quickly to get any pictures. I’m glad I spotted them at least!
Once we arrived we spent a few minutes exploring some of the local plants and trying a few of the berries we spotted growing in the bushes. Don’t worry, we knew they were edible! Colin and I picked some calafate and bit into the berries, which we had previously tried as ice-cream. They were a little sour – not quite ready yet. There was also a red berry which Colin liked, but I thought tasted a bit like perfume! And these big leaves that we discovered were Chilean rhubarb, a plant that grows up to 2 meters tall, is edible, but considered a pest or weed.
Next we moved on to the main attraction of the day – Glacier San Rafael. Glacier San Rafael is part of the Northern Ice Field, and is one of the fastest retreating glaciers in the Ice Field. As we approached the glacier we saw many icebergs which had calved, or fallen/melted, off the ‘calving face’ or the front of the glacier. A combination of weight and rising temperatures is leading to the glacier melting at a rapid pace. We could clearly see how far the glacier had retreated by looking at the side of the mountain where the rock face was. There were clumps of green trees, then all of a sudden there was just rock. This area that was only rock was the area that the glacier used to reach but had since melted away. It was really sad to see how quickly the massive and beautiful glaciers of the world are disappearing. Early in the week we watched a National Geographic documentary called Chasing Ice which told us that 150 million people will end up being displaced by rising sea waters which are due to melting glaciers. Many others are currently dying and having their homes destroyed from the increasingly intensity of storms. Since there is more water in the ocean storms such as hurricanes and tsunamis are able to flood with greater strength, and cause greater destruction.
On our way back from the glacier as we crossed the area where the road was unfinished again. This time we noticed the three colors of the water – you could clearly see them, it was a meeting of the waters on a grander scale than in the Amazon because it had an extra color! The three colors were: black from the soil erosion in the forest, milky white from the glacier water, and blue/green from the minerals in the rocks.
Once we were back in Coyhaique we checked back in to our hotel and spent the next few days resting. Colin had calculated from our travel records that we had been to 10 different cities in just 11 days – and this meant we were really in need of a rest.
By the 18th of January we decided to check out a nearby mirador and get some dinner out. Colin and I walked to the Rio Simpson and watched as dogs herded sheep around one of the estancias. On our way back we decided we were hungry. I had a craving for sushi for ages - and luckily we spotted a place called KO Sushi that had 20 pieces of ‘design your own’ for $7000 pesos or about $14 USD. I picked out 10 rolls of tempura chicken with cream cheese and avocado and 10 rolls of fresh salmon with cream cheese and avocado. Exactly what I wanted, and so delicious!
We arranged to go to the Reserva Nacional Coyhaique on January 20th. Once we got there (after a quick stop at a bakery to pick up some lunch) we paid an entrance fee of $6 USD each to enter (the price is $3000 for foreigners, $1000 for locals) and received a map. The walk was pretty easy, taking us through viewpoints down at the city and out at numerous lakes and lagoons.
Throughout the reserve are many ‘exotic’ (non-native) pine trees, (which have littered the floor with pinecones and needles) along with native beech and coihue trees which we walked through. Apparently the pine trees are a huge problem (especially with the Mapuche people in the area) as their planting was purely for profit and it takes away resources from the native trees. There was plenty of evidence of a fire that must have occurred at one point – lots of the trees had fallen down due to their burned roots.
At one point we saw water powering a giant wooden wheel to spin around! Colin and I stopped for a quick lunch by Lake Verde after a walk around it. Next we saw Laguna Venus and Laguna Los Sapos, looking for deer such as pudu or huemul that didn’t seem to be around. Along the way we lost our map but luckily managed to find our way back to the trail, soon greeted by some bright red woodpeckers and huge trees!
Our walk was finished in the late afternoon, but a couple hours before our scheduled pick-up. Luckily we managed to hitch a ride out with a local mountain biker who was just finishing his trip so we could get ready to leave the next day.
Francesca
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